Eugene Charles Catalan
See also: Catalan (homonymy)
Eugene Charles Catalan (1814 - 1894) is a Mathématicien which worked primarily in Théorie of the numbers.
It was born the May 30th 1814 with Bruges, in Belgium. His/her father, Joseph Catalan, a Parisian jeweller, recognized it only in 1821. Eugene settled in Paris in 1825, and integrated the Polytechnic school (X1833 Promotion). He was in the same class as Liouville in 1833, but was expelled of the school the following year. It was authorized in 1835 to resume its Polytechnique studies and left there graduate, then taught mathematics at the Technical school of Châlons-sur-Marne. His/her friend Liouville helped it to obtain in 1838 a station, of teacher in descriptive Polytechnique geometry. But its political activities reflect a brake with its career; it had political ideas very on the left.
He taught during several years with the Charlemagne college. In 1844, in a letter with the editor of the newspaper of Crelle , Catalan wrote his famous conjecture:
- “I request from you, Sir, to agree to state, in your collection, the following theorem, which I believe true, although I did not succeed in yet showing it completely: others will be perhaps happier:
Two consecutive integers, others that 8 and 9 cannot be exact powers; in other words: the equation- in which the unknown factors are whole and positive, does not admit that only one solution. ”
This conjecture was shown only in 2002 by Preda Mihailescu (see and).
It took part in the revolution of 1848 and in 1865, it left finally the France to turn over in Belgium, and taught the analysis with the Université of Liege.
Catalan founded in 1875 the newspaper of mathematics the New mathematical Correspondence . Catalan worked in analyzes by studying the differential equations and the whole series, by being interested in the integral calculation of multiples; he made research in differential Géométrie (he published in 1843 his results on algebraic surfaces which bear its name today) and in Théorie of the numbers. He published most of his results of a search in the Journal of mathematics pure and applied .
He accepted the Cross of Knight about Léopold, in 1879. Regarded then as a very eminent Mathematician in theory of the numbers, it was indicated in 1883 by the Belgian Academy of Science, to be one of three the sworn charged ones to grant a price for a demonstration of the Dernier theorem of Fermat.
He died on February 14th, 1894 with Liege.
Currently, the royal Academy of Belgium decrees the Price Eugene-Catalan, every five years, with a Belgian scientist or French who will have made an important advance in pure mathematical sciences.
Numbers frequently used in Combinatoire bear its name: the numbers of Catalan
A constant door also its name: the Constant of Catalan
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